If making America great again means going against the strong, sincere, and wise recommendations of just about every citizen on planet earth including the nation’s and the world’s top business leaders and seriously damaging U.S. credibility and moral standing in the world in order to take a selfish, immoral, and irresponsible unilateral action which is against the wishes of the majority of the citizens you’re supposed to represent and with no concern of the immediate and long-term effects it will have on others in and outside of the U.S. then Mr. Trump you, Bannon, and Pruitt are off to a good start and I assure you that you’ve made history, just not the kind your grandchildren are going to be proud of.

As for where to go from here, are your senators one of the 22 that recently signed a letter urging Trump to pull the U.S. out of the Paris Climate Agreement? Have you contacted them and expressed your extreme disapproval of their position on climate change and role in this disastrous decision?

P.S I’m still thinking about what to do with this blog and about what I can do to help mitigate the environmental damage caused by profligate individuals living in America and around the world. I hope to have something figured out and started by the end of the year. In the meantime have fun being alive on a planet that isn’t nearly as beautiful as it once was but is still awesome.

P.S I’m still thinking about what to do with this blog and about what I can do to help mitigate the environmental damage caused by profligate individuals living in America and around the world. I hope to have something figured out and started by the end of the year. In the meantime have fun being alive on a planet that isn’t nearly as beautiful as it once was but is still awesome.

In an interview at the New York Times yesterday President-elect Trump said he was open minded and carefully looking at the issue of climate change. Now more than ever is the time to voice your support for the Paris Climate Agreement and the Clean Power Plan. Please contact the President-elect and urge him to stay in the Paris Climate Agreement, ensure the U.S. keeps it’s Paris commitments, and continues to lead the world in its effort to curb climate change!

In a video updating the world on his presidential transition and explaining some of his policy plans for his first 100 days in office Trump said he will “Cancel job-killing restrictions on the production of American energy”, i.e., he will cancel health and environmental protecting restrictions on the production of dirty, unsustainable, and climate change exacerbating energy.

If Trump continues down this road pushed along by the likes of climate change denier Myron Ebell he will not only hurt America’s chance to lead the world in renewable energy he will also hurt humanity’s chance to avoid the most devastating effects of climate change; and all in exchange for some coal industry profits and a few unhealthy and unsafe jobs for people to blow up mountain tops, crawl into coal mines, burn coal, and dispose of coal ash.

The petition can be found here and if you agree please sign, comment, and help it get noticed. Also please support this petition as well along with any similar ones you may find because it’s important that those of us who care about maintaining and furthering the progress made in addressing climate change over the past 8 years are as vocal as possible because the best shot we have at positively influencing the path the Trump administration takes on climate change, and other issues, over the next four years is NOW.

I stole the following article from the Steve Bannon run Breitbart News, which I just read is now the most widely-read conservative site in America, because I didn’t want to link to it and give them the benefit of a few extra clicks on their advertisement loaded website that keeps automatically reloading and is severely affecting my internet speed. I re-post this article not to make you cringe but to give you some background on the guy we’re trying to get fired and in hopes it will motivate you to support this petition.

Besides the need to reduce the influence of money in politics the way people vote and the way candidates are elected also needs to change if we’re going to allow people to vote for their first choice without having to worry about “wasting” their vote or “spoiling” an election. If you’re interested in ranked choice voting and electing presidents based upon which presidential candidate receives the most votes then learn more and sign up for email updates via the links below.

I hope you’ll consider viewing and sharing articles and video clips like those below with friends and family before Tuesday. Rather than seeing it as preaching politics to people that probably don’t want to hear it see it as sharing some information which people can use as food for thought or choose to ignore. I’m confident the more people who step back and think ahead of Tuesday’s election the better chance the U.S. and the rest of the world will have at a better future.

The Paris Climate Agreement takes effect today and although the national commitments pledged thus far fall far short of what needs to be done if global warming is to be kept below 2C above pre-industrial levels and if the most environmentally devastating and socially destabilizing effects of climate change are to be avoided it at least provides a framework which gives humanity a chance at reaching this extremely important goal.

I ask any U.S. voters that visit this site and I hope you’ll ask any you know to take this critically important issue into account on Tuesday and note that one candidate has a plan to address it while creating new jobs and the only plan her competitor has is to deny there’s a problem and write it all off as a “hoax”. Trump doesn’t even list the environment as an issue on his campaign site however it does say he will “scrap the EPA’s so-called Clean Power Plan” and has said he will get rid of the EPA in almost every form. Of all the things that make Trump unfit to be president I think his ignorance and lack of concern as it pertains to climate change and other environmental issues is the most disqualifying.

The biosphere and human civilization can not afford 4 years of inaction and reversals of the modest climate change policies that have been enacted over the last 8 years. We need a U.S. president, as well as a U.S. Senate and Congress, that will not only support policies like the Clean Power Plan and treaties like the Paris Climate Agreement we need one who will build upon them because the international community’s current commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions fall far short of what is needed to ensure, or even make it likely, that the earth of the late 21st century will be as biodiverse and inhabitable as the earth of the early 21st century. Obviously climate change isn’t the only important issue in this election but I think it’s the most important as well as the most neglected. If you take a few steps back and take a broader more long-term worldview I’m confident you will agree.

If you’re eligible please don’t leave this election and the health of this planet to chance. Be sure to vote and encourage others to join you in making sure climate change deniers do not get elected president, senator, or congressperson.

It’s disgraceful that in four debates the candidates for president and vice president were not asked a single question about planet earth’s and human civilization’s most pressing problem, climate change. Shame on all the moderators for missing a great chance to help educate the severely uniformed and misinformed U.S. electorate on this extremely important issue. Moreover shame on much of the U.S. electorate who choose to ignore the warnings and continue to burn fossil fuels in larger than necessary vehicles and eat meat like climate change, deforestation, and environmental degradation in general isn’t an issue while supporting climate change denying politicians or not bothering to vote at all.

I had to leave my place a day after getting back due to some painting. It’s only a little on some trim on the balconies however even a slight smell of paint or any other harmful concoction of chemicals, e.g., perfume and laundry detergent, is too much for me so I decided to leave for a couple days. I’m now at my mountain retreat which is a two and a half hour bus ride away where I don’t have internet access thanks to the screen on my phone dying after being dropped about 3 weeks ago. Anyway here’s a good article regarding recent U.S. actions in Yemen and the way the mainstream media has covered it.

Another thing that was discussed in last night’s debate was Islamophobia so I wanted to briefly say what I think that is and isn’t.

Islamophobia isn’t wanting to keep people who live by their own set of medieval laws which make women second class citizens and make it dangerous to be gay, lesbian, or a freethinker out of your country; nor is it wanting to make it illegal for the people already in your country to wear burqas and similar identity concealing attire in public places and to dress children in such attire.

Islamophobia is wanting to ban all people who identify as Muslim from entering your country regardless of how they interpret and practice their religion. We shouldn’t be so afraid of being labeled intolerant that we tolerate things which should not be tolerated, nor should we place an entire broad and diverse group of people into one small box and label it based upon the most abominable members of that group.

I mailed in my absentee ballot today! If you know anyone overseas or eligible for early voting in the States please encourage them to vote now rather than later. Getting an absentee ballot is easy! So is printing it, marking your choices, signing your name, and sending it in the mail. Here’s a link to an online tool that makes it even easier for U.S. citizens abroad to vote.

Tonight’s the first presidential debate of 2016 and will be the first time a women is one of the two people making their case for your vote and public support leading up to election day. Unfortunately rather than pondering the well-thought and detailed plans of the one candidate that has them I’m afraid many of those who are still undecided, yes such people exist, will just be looking for the worst gaffes and best one-liners. To these people who still haven’t outright rejected the possibility of voting for Trump, those who plan on voting for a third party or not voting at all, and those who actually support Trump, know that a vote for Trump is a vote against life on Earth.

Trump claims climate change is a “hoax” and has promised to undo the modest and long-overdue commitments the U.S. has made to do anything about it, e.g. Clean Power Plan. He doesn’t even mention climate change or environmental issues in general on his campaign website nor does he talk about them on the campaign trail except to say things like he’s “going to get rid of the department of environmental protection in almost every form” and “cancel the Paris climate agreement”. How could a man with such a blatant disregard for the health of the planet that has given us all life get a single vote from anyone even remotely concerned about the stability of the climate and diversity of the biosphere.

Trump’s positions, and lack of positions, on climate change and other environmental issues should be a deal-breaker for anyone who isn’t intent on leaving behind a planet to future generations that’s much less biologically diverse and in much worse shape than the one we’re fortunate enough to inhabit. Please publicly support Hillary for president and remind any Trump supporters what a vote for The Donald could mean, and if he’s elected will mean, for future generations of life on this planet. Climate change is real, humans are largely responsible, and we can’t put off taking decisive action any longer. We need a president who will build upon the environmental and economic achievements made over the past 8 years not one who is running on destroying them.

P.S. In the debate Trump denied saying virtually the exact same thing he tweeted and has yet to delete. Unfortunately his supporters don’t seem to see it as lying or untruthful when he denies his past statements. The fact is Trump bends the truth or straight out lies more so than Hillary according to the Truth-O-Meter.

NBC News just called it the great freeze – coldest weather in years. Is our country still spending money on the GLOBAL WARMING HOAX?

Dear Police, we all know you have a dangerous job and need to be ready for anything but if you’re so nervous and fearful, particularly around black people, that it affects your decision making ability then you shouldn’t be armed and on the beat. Not all people that fail to follow your commands are out to kill you. Some may be autistic, some deaf, and some may be intoxicated so please give them the benefit of the doubt and don’t take lethal action until your life is truly in danger.

Dear Public, you will greatly reduce your chances of getting shot if you keep your hands visible, avoid sudden movements, and do as instructed. I’ve seen a few tragic videos over the past few years of people getting shot and killed by anxious police and most of them have something in common and that is the victim is resisting arrest or not following commands. While this doesn’t justify a police shooting it does greatly increase the chances of one happening so please remember to follow commands.

Dear Protestors, bringing public attention to what might have otherwise been another overlooked injustice is the right thing to do and will lead towards better policing and safer streets. However any rioting and/or looting is the worst possible thing you can do in the wake of a police shooting so if you really want to prevent future tragedies please keep your protests peaceful, engage in constructive dialogue, and work with law enforcement agencies to help bring violent police and protestors to justice.

Hijab emoji? Does the emoji library also need a burka emoji and a niqab emoji? Instead of creating emoji characters for all the religions, or just those whose adherents ardently request them, why not just stick with human face emoji which now, as they should, come in multiple skin colors. With that said I think those for and against religious emoji should focus on the more pressing issues related to Islam, other religions, and cultural backwardness in general.

How can the U.S., a country so deeply in debt that we’ve been told it can’t afford to provide health care and higher education to all its citizens, afford to give Israel, a country with a per capita GDP of around $35,000 and the most technologically advanced military in the Middle East, 3.8 billion dollars a year in military aid? I understand it costs Israel a lot to defend its illegal settlements but I don’t think U.S. taxpayers should be the ones to pay for it. Moreover as the sole nuclear power in the Middle East Israel is perfectly capable of deterring and defending itself from its neighbors without U.S. taxpayer dollars.

Feel free to let your government representatives know if you think this is a good way to spend 3.8 billion in taxpayer dollars over the next 10 years. I think the U.S. and the rest of the world would be much better off if this annual $3,800,000,000 was spent on health and education or perhaps on alternative energy infrastructure.

Bullfighting is another instance where culture and tradition overrides empathy and humanity and anyone participating in these events and/or opposing an outright ban of them should be ashamed of themselves. It’s great to see the good people of Spain take to the streets to oppose this barbarism that is still taking place in their country.